Goodbye San Jose - Hello Sweden

My very last update on this blog. We took a good long while to get out of bed that Monday morning, as you can imagine we didn't exactly want to get our day started. It was January 18th and my flight would take off late in the afternoon. I packed the last few things in my bags, showered and got ready to leave. I couldn't find Buggy but I went outside to give Snickers, Twix and Reese some kittie treats so that I could say goodbye to them. I sat there for a while watching them being all cute and had to force myself to walk back inside. It was fiiiiinally time for Nick to get his present. It was a photo album that I had made myself online. It took me forever but it turned out great. I love those web sites where you can choose where to put the photos and write things next to them. I had made a timeline of pictures and sweet things we had said to each other. He thought it was awesome and I brought a copy of my own back to Sweden!
 
There was more traffic on our way to Oakland airport than what we expected so we were stressed out about that. But we tried to stay calm. Also, I couldn't check in with a machine at the airport which I have done every time in the last few years. So it was a surprise that I had to stand in line for a long time to get that done. I was already stressed out about missing my flight. Luckily it meant that I got to keep Nick with me for a bit longer ;) His boss already knew why he would be late for work and had told him to take his time with me at the airport. But eventually we arrived at the security check and it was time to say goodbye. UUUGGGHH, we had been dreading this moment for so long. I don't even want to write too much about it. It was the worst goodbye ever, we cried and didn't want to let each other go. That's all I'm really going to say. The only encouraging thought was that the next time I was going to see him would be in Sweden, to show him my home country. And the time after that we are going to get married :)

I had a 10 hour flight ahead of me and managed to sleep just 1½ hour. Norweigan have these new airplanes that are awesome for long flights. They have big seats and TWO "hallways" to walk up and down. There are nine seats in a row and I got to sit in the middle one, but there was an empty seat between me and another girl so I had plenty of space. I entertained myself with my laptop for a while but the screen on the seat in front of me was the best. It had fun games to play, movies and TV-shows to watch. I watched the documentary about Amy Winehouse and managed to get through at least a part of a season of "The big bang theory" that I had missed. The vegetarian food was surprisingly good! I ate almost the whole thing.
 
It was bittersweet coming back to Sweden. I of course didn't have any winter clothes on me. And it was wonderful seeing the red and white houses out on the country side covered in so much snow. I have missed that a lot! I had an 1½ hour long bus ride between the airport in Stockholm and my homwtown in Västerås. All I could think about was that Nick is going to make the same trip later this year :P he doesn't have a whole lot of patience so I know it won't be easy for him. But I also know it'll be worth it :) He'll be so excited when the plane lands and he can see Swedish ground for the first time! He'll be bouncing up and down like a little kid and then I'll meet him at the airport and drive us to Västerås :D
 
I took a shower, unpacked a lot of my stuff immediately, did a lot of laundry and had my favorite pizza from Sturegatan. It was really hard to stay awake that evening but I had to so that I could skype with Nick. Everything felt better after that. I love how he throws in Swedish so much more when he speaks now. It comes more and more natural that he says "hej då" when we say bye, we of course laugh because we are not used to it but it's great practice for him.
 
It took me a long time to finsih this blog, but I have been busy with life. Two months and three weeks later me and Nick are doing great and are planning for him to visit me this summer. I work as a subteacher while I am trying to finish my teaching degree. We are in the visa process and if all goes well (fingers crossed!) I'll be going back to San Jose sometime between August and November when the visa has been approved. Thank you for following my journey as an au pair in America, it has been quite the ride! :)
 
Packed and ready to leave
Gave Nick his goodbye present :)
Time to get in the car
The road to Oakland was beautiful. I took a different way when I dropped my aunt off at the airport so I hadn't seen it before. This almost looked like Ireland - it was gorgeous!
Loved the pasta on the plane. I hate broccoli but this was great.
The new lights that I see in many airplanes these days. The staff tends to have fun with it and argue about who gets to choose the colors, haha
First look at Sweden...
Not exactly thrilled to be back
I have missed this view
Back in Västerås again
I liked the new Christmas lights downtown
Mmm best pizza in the world, there is nothing better to eat after a long trip
The Christmas tree was still up. Lucky I took a picture of it since it was taken down the day after.
The front yard looked beautiful in the night